before you're old, you are young
by finchelinmyteenagedream
Summary: "you can take the girl out of ohio, but you can't take the ohio out of the girl"
1. part one

hello wonderful readers. this story has literally been sitting saved on my computer for about a year. and tonight i saw a post on my dashboard that was from "sweet home alabama" and i got the sudden urge to fix my terrible story that is (loosely) based off of that movie! okay so maybe a lot of it is, but i made it plenty finchel-y. now there's not a lot of finchel in this part of it, but there will be, because if you've seen the movie you know there's a lot of angst before you get to the good part! so without further adu, here is my attempt at writing good fanfiction. 3

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i.

The sky was dark and cloudy as they sat on the beach as they always did. Well, if you could even call it a beach. It was more of a strip of sand, connected to a lake. But that didn't really matter to them, they were eleven after all. Laughter made her stomach clench as he said yet another thing which forced her into a fit of giggles. He always knew how to make her smile, and that's how Rachel knew that she loved Finn.

They sat there for a while, just watching the sky, but he saw it before she did. "C'mon!" he nudged her elbow. Lightening. She smiled. "Let's go!" He took off running, and she quickly followed, quickly glancing behind her noticing the bolt that landed two feet away from where she was just sitting.

"Wait! Finn! What are you possibly doing?" She called, slowing him down. "There was lightening here, not even two seconds ago!" He turned to look at her, a look of confusion on his face.

"You're so dumb." He teased, walking back to grab her hand. "Lightening never hits the same place twice!"

"I am not stupid, Finn Hudson! I'll have you know that my daddies said that I have a higher IQ than any of our friends, especially Noah! They said that he was dumber than a sack of pota-" Finn sighed and sat down on the sand rolling his eyes at her.

Smiling, Rachel sat next to him in the sand. "You're stupid." She smiled, nudging his shoulder with her chin. They sat like that, watching the lightening until Finn broke the silence.

"Rach…?" she looked at him then, seeing something in his eyes she had never seen before. She couldn't stop the words before they came out of her mouth.

"You know you can kiss me if you want too…" she sighed, leaning towards him.

"I want to." He said, leaning in to kiss her.

Just as their lips met, a bolt of lightening hit them shooting them apart from each other.

Rachel shot up from her slumber, her chair rolling her back a few inches before she realized that she had been dreaming. She shook her head, trying to clear out the memories that had just resurfaced. It was all just a dream, she reminded herself, wiping the tiny bit of drool away from the corner of her mouth.

"Good dream?" she heard Santana chuckle.

"Ha ha" Rachel scowled at her.

"Oh, come on Rachel, you're stressed, you haven't slept in weeks, you deserve some rest." Santana smiled.

Ever since Rachel moved to New York, Santana Lopez had been her best friend, and even though she was a bitch sometimes, Rachel always knew Santana had her back.

"Thanks." She smiled.

"Plus," Santana added, "it's closing night tonight, you needed to rest your vocal chords anyway." With that, she walked out of the room, leaving Rachel by herself.

Packing up her things, Rachel walked through the theatre, telling everyone she saw she would see them later that night, and to make sure to drink plenty of tea with honey. It _was _the greatest thing to drink before a performance after all.

She called a goodbye to Santana, who was standing with her other best friend, Kurt, and left the building, excited as anything to get home and sleep. Sleep that didn't include dreams like the last one.

She suspected something was up as soon as she put her key in the lock. And as soon as she opened the door, her suspicions were confirmed. She smiled at the sight of her apartment. Dozens of roses surrounded her. Vases of them were on the counters, and the pedals from them on the floor, leading her to the living room, where dozens more were waiting for her.

She laughed quietly to herself as she walked around, inhaling the scent of them. Rachel reached into her bag to pull out her phone, immediately dialing the cause for all of this. When he answered she simply said; "I love you, I love you, I love you." Rachel said, sitting on the side of her bed, which was also covered in petals.

"I see you got the flowers?" He chuckled. She could hear his smile on the other end of the line.

"They are wonderful, Sam. Absolutely gorgeous!"

"Just like you are, Rachel. I am so proud of you, and you're going to do so good tonight, I can feel it. I know it!" She couldn't hide the excitement on her face.

"Thank you, baby, but I'm still amazing even though I've done this hundreds of times before?"

"Even if you did this a million times, you would still be the most fantastic woman on Broadway."

"You always know what to say, Sam. I'll see you tonight, okay?" she bit her lip to try to keep herself from smiling so wide.

"Okay, Rachel, I love you." Sam said.

"I love you too." Rachel lay back on her bed when she hung up. She in fact, had the best boyfriend ever.

ii.

The show went off without a hitch, just as she suspected it to. She got three standing ovations, something that she didn't even know was possible. But hey, who was she to complain? As always, Sam was there in the front row, another bouquet of roses in his hand. It must be the last of them, she hoped.

She locked hands with Kurt and Santana as they took their final bows. And as the curtain fell, Rachel felt the tears start to pour down her cheeks. She held their hands tightly, not wanting to let them go, or the show. She had let enough go in her life, it hurt her to lose something so important again.

When she saw Sam come backstage, she wiped her eyes, pushing all of her recent thoughts out of her mind. She squeezed Santana and Kurt's hands once more before running into Sam's arms, where he grabbed her in a tight embrace.

"Rachel Smythe, you were the most amazing woman on that stage, and the most beautiful." He said kissing her cheeks and her forehead. "And you were the most talented." He kissed her lips. She smiled against them, loving him more and more every time he spoke.

"Thank you, Sam. For everything." He handed her the bouquet, smiling at her.

"Those are the last ones." She smiled, he had read her mind. "But you might want some more, because I have to tell you something." She felt her stomach drop at his words. _He didn't figure it out, did he?_

"My mother wants us to attend her gala tomorrow night." She sighed a breath she didn't even know she was holding. "I know that you hate them, and you like it when our relationship is low profile, and I love that too, but my mother _is _the mayor of this city, so we kinda have to do what she says…"

Rachel grasped his hands in hers. "You have been so amazing for me in the past weeks, coming to all my shows, and still making time with me with all of your obligations, of course we can go. And I'll even smile some of the time!" She laughed, kissing Sam on the cheek.

"I love you, Rachel Smythe, did you know that?"

She smiled, "And I love you, Sam Evans."

iii.

Her phone rings as she's putting in her second earring. She curses to herself that Sam is early, and he didn't give her enough time to get ready. Even though he's like forty minutes earlier than when he said he would get her. "Hello?"

"Hey, baby. Listen, I'm running a little late, so I'm gonna send Tony to get you and take you here, is that okay? He should be there in like ten minutes or so." She sighed.

"Okay, good, because I am almost ready and I was going to have to punch you because you didn't give me enough time to get ready!" she heard him chuckle on the other end of the line.

"Women…"

"Oh, whatever. Have Tony call me when he gets here. I love you, butthead." Rachel said, hanging up when she got the response she wanted.

iv.

She smiles when she gets outside, Tony holding open the door of the limo for her, just like he always did. Out of all of the people that serviced the Evans, Tony had to be Rachel's favorite. While all the other people that worked there (Rachel refused to call them servants) were usually angry or unhappy to be there, Tony always seemed happy to help her and loved to talk to her. Rachel's fondest memory with Tony was on her and Sam's first date.

_Tony had picked her up from her apartment, because Sam's mother made him stay at the office late. She had never been out with people with real money or power before, so she was already nervous as a person in her situation could be. Tony noticed automatically and had pulled her aside._

_ "Now, Ms. Smythe. There is no reason to be nervous. I have worked for many a families in my lifetime. And out of all of them, Mr. Evans is the kindest man that I have ever had the pleasure of working for. I know he cares about you, and doesn't mind that you aren't of his, well…"_

_ "That I don't have a political career?" Rachel asked, not wanting to think he offended her._

_ "Exactly." He smiled softly at her. "Feel a little better?"_

_ "Very much so, thank you, Tony."_

"So, Sam tells me that your show went well?" He said, helping her into the car. She waited until he was seated in the front of the car before she answered him.

"It went very well, thank you. And it was so kind of you to come to one of my shows, you didn't have to do that at all!" She blushed.

"It was nothing, Mr. Evans loves you, and as long as you don't tell him I said this, I think that I'm in love with your voice a little bit." He winked at her from the rearview mirror.

"Well, you wouldn't be the first." She stuck out her tongue, earning a smirk from the front of the car. "So, where exactly are we headed?" Rachel said, not recognizing her surroundings as they drove.

"Oh, Mr. Evans told me to take a few back roads, not as much paparazzi and such." As the car came to a halt.

"Yes, that sounds like Sam." She laughed. The door opened to reveal her gorgeous boyfriend, standing smiling just like he always was when he was expecting her. If she could pick out one thing she loved about him, it was that any time he saw her, he smiled like that.

"You ready to go, gorgeous?" He asked, reaching his hand for hers, helping her out of the car.

"Yes, let's go. Tony, will I see you after?" She called over her shoulder as he walked her though a set of doors.

"Yes, Ms. Smythe, you will. Have fun!" He called back. And if Rachel had turned to look at him, she would have seen the giant smile plastered on his face.

"Where are we going?" Rachel asked, when Sam walked her into a big dark room. She was pretty sure this was not a political gala. "I'm pretty sure this is not a political gala." She heard Sam chuckle next to her.

"Don't freak out, Rachel. I can tell you are and I can't even see your face." He grabbed her by the shoulders. "Now stand riiiiiiiggghhhttt here." He positioned her into the spot he wanted her in, and let go.

"Samuel, what is going on?" She demanded, admitting to herself she was getting kind of freaked out. Just as she opened her mouth to speak again, the lights in the room clicked on, one by one.

She gasped loudly as she took in her surroundings. As the lights slowly turned on, she saw the cases of jewelry surrounding her. All of the cases around her were full of rings, big, beautiful, shiny, diamond rings. Engagement rings. She felt her heart leap in her chest as she turned and saw Sam on one knee.

"Sam?" She asked, completely speechless.

"Rachel Smythe, will you marry me?" He asked, smiling at her, just the way she had always loved. She answered in the only way that she knew how.

"Are you sure?" She asked, a look of surprise arising on his face. "Are you really sure, cause if you're not sure, we can just go back to the car or something!"

"Rachel, Rachel." Sam said, standing up.

"We've only been together eight months, Sam." She said.

"You know I never do anything rash. And I usually don't ask questions I don't already know the answer to." He smirked as he spoke, gently rubbing her knuckles with his thumb. "So," he said, as Rachel looked around the room at all of the rings. "With the risk of being rejected twice, I'm going to ask you again." Rachel just stared at him, eyes wide. "Will you marry me?"

A smile curled on her lips as she absorbed the question. She jumped into his arms before she answered him. "Yes! Yes! I will marry you!" She smiled as he spun her around in circles. It was official, she in fact had the best _fiancée _ever.

v.

She barely made it to the car before she attacked him. Her lips were everywhere on his skin. She didn't want to leave any part of exposed skin he had unkissed. She was engaged to Sam Evans. The most wonderful man she had ever met. She heard Tony clear his throat in the front seat. "Sorry, Tony, you'll have to excuse us for a bit." Rachel smiled. She reached above her and clicked the button that was there, rising the divider for the car.

"Mmm." Sam sighed against her lips. Rachel started pulling at his tie, trying to expose more of his neck. She didn't really care that they were on their way to a gala for the mayor of New York City aka her future mother in law, she just wanted her fiancée and she wanted him now. Her lips were distracted however when Sam spoke. "So, when are we going to tell your parents?"

"Uhh, what?" She tore her lips away from his neck.

"When are you going to call them and tell them? You want to now?" He reached into his pants pocket to get his phone.

"Oh, um," She grabbed his hand. "How about we just wait a little while?"

"Why do you want to wait?" He asked, his head turned to the side a little.

"Well, I mean, once it gets out to the press, it's never going to stop, you know the paparazzi baby." He nodded. "What if we just wait a little while, let the press from my show go down, and this whole gala thing blow over, we don't want them thinking we got engaged for them, you know what I mean."

Sam looked at her confused, but then nodded his head. "That makes sense. If you want to wait," He grabbed her left hand. "We can wait." He kissed it before turning the newly placed ring so the stone was on the inside of her hand.

vi.

The cameras flashed brightly as Sam helped her out of the limo again. Holding her tightly to his side, he walked over to his mother, who had an angry expression on her face. "You're late." She said angrily, through a fake smile.

"Sorry Mom, I had something to take care of." Rachel laughed to herself at how ridiculous they always were when they fought in public with their fake smiles plastered on their face. Sam's mom turned to her.

"Lovely as always to see you again, Rachel." She smiled. Rachel couldn't tell if it was fake or if it was real.

"You too, Madame Mayor." Rachel answered.

"How many times do I have to tell you? You can call me Annie. We're practically family anyway." She smiled. Rachel returned her smile. _Oh how right you are Annie_. Rachel thought to herself. "I heard your last show was last night, I hope it went well?" Rachel walked next to the Evans as they made their way down the carpet towards the building.

"It went very well," Rachel hesitated. "Annie."

"That is fantastic." Kate said, taking Rachel's hands in hers. "You are a real star, you know that? Sammy never was lying when he said how great your voice was." She squeezed Rachel's hands, and Rachel knew by the face that her future mother in law was now wearing that Annie had felt the ring on her finger.

"Samuel. Why is there an ice rink on Rachel's very important finger?" Kate asked, plastering her fake smile back on her face.

Sam walked over to his mother. "That's because it's an engagement ring." He whispered quietly. "But, don't say anything, Rachel doesn't want to announce it-" He was quickly cut off by his mother.

"Oh my god." She said, turning over Rachel's left hand. YOU'RE ENGAGED!" Annie yelled, causing all of the paparazzi to turn towards them, taking hundreds of pictures.

"…yet." Sam finished, putting his face in his hands. Rachel just looked on, surprised, forcing a smile of her own for the cameras. This was going to be a _looong _night.

vii.

Her phone rang as she drove. Clicking the bow on her Hello Kitty blue tooth, she heard Santana's voice. "So, you're engaged and you didn't even tell me!? I had to calm Kurt the fuck down because he was so hurt you didn't tell him yourself. We had to find out from the papers!"

"It just happened, San! I promise. We literally got engaged a half hour before the gala and then his mother when and ruined it all by blurting out to everyone in the entire city."

"Alright Smythe, but you're lucky I love you so much. Well, just hurry up, Kurt and I are at Starbucks, and he's waiting to bombard you with bridal magazines, so get your stupid little engaged ass down here so he can do it already."

"I can't."

"What do you mean you can't Rachel. Where are you?" Santana asked, slightly annoyed.

"I'm in Ohio." Rachel answered.

"What the absolute _fuck _Smythe?" Santana sighed.

"Yeah…." She groaned.

viii.

Rachel pulled up to the house like she had those millions of times before. It didn't feel different to her, and for some reason, that really scared her. She climbed out of her car and looked around, seeing her old dog, Drizzle, laying on the front porch. She frowned. She remembered how she left the most important animal in the world behind in her haste to get the hell out of her hometown. She walked around her car and put her bag on the hood, taking off her engagement ring and dropping it in the bag as she took out a packet of papers. Just as she was taking them out of the envelope, she heard the front door slam.

Her whole body froze as she heard a voice that she hadn't heard in five years. And it didn't get past her that his voice could still get to her. "Well, well, well, who do we have here?" He asked. She could hear him walking down the porch steps. She turned to face him, leaning against the hood of her car.

Finn Hudson had not changed a bit since she last saw him. He was still just as tall as he always was and still had those dimples in his cheeks that she used to love. He also still had the same crooked smile, a smile that she loved more than Sam's. He had grease all over him, Rachel suspected he had been working on cars all day, due to the fact that he had a part of one in his hand. An alternator for a 57' Chevy. Damn her for still knowing shit about cars because of him. The girl that she was now didn't care about car parts; she cared about everything but them. She was a city girl; she didn't need to know about cars because she didn't use them. Anyway, it didn't matter how he looked, she was back in her hell hole of a home town for a reason, and she was not leaving until she got what she wanted.

"Well I mean, you could give me a god damned divorce, Finn Hudson." She spat, taking off her sunglasses and giving him a look at who he was talking to. She saw his eyes widen at the realization of who she was.

"You're joking, right? You came all the way to Lima just to get a divorce out of me?" He turned around and started walking back up the stairs.

"Do you think you're funny or something Finn? My lawyer charges me up the ass every fucking time you send these papers back."

"Calm down. I'm glad you finally got the message, Rachel."

"UGH" She growled, fisting the roof of her rental car. "What will it take foe you to just sign them?!"

She heard Finn come up behind her. "I could think of a few things" He breathed into her ear. A shiver went down her spine, something that didn't go unnoticed by Finn. He chuckled. "Nah, I don't think I'm going to sign them, Rach." Rachel let out a small scream as he walked away.

"WHY ARE YOU SO FRUSTRATING?" She screamed. "Where are you going?!" She asked, noticing he was walking away from her into the house. She scrambled to put the papers back into her bag and follow him.

"Leaving, you're so good at it, I figure you'd know what it was when it was happening." She groaned following him to the door of the house.

"Can we just try to keep this civilized or something, Finn? Then I can go home."

"Oh really, Rach, what do you know about being home? Do your dads even know that you're home?"

"That is _MY _business, Finn, not yours." She took a step towards him.

"Rachel, they are the only family you've got. Get your butt back into your car and go see them, and then maybe we'll talk." Finn said, walking into the house, slamming the door behind him.

"FINN!" Rachel screamed, calling through the door. "The only reason you won't sign these papers is because I want you to!"

"No, Rachel," he opened the door to her again. "The reason I am not signing the papers is because you turned into some prissy bitch, and right now, all I want to do is piss you off!" He slammed it in her face again. She let out a frustrated sigh and walked around the house, knowing exactly where the hide-a-key she left was.

ix.

He slammed the front door right in her face. God, who the fuck did she think she was, coming back here after _seven _years of no contact to demand that he give her a divorce? Finn stalked towards the fridge and grabbed a beer out of it. He couldn't even wrap his head around the fact that he was here, back where she belonged, and the only thing that she wanted out of him was a divorce. He didn't know whether to be hurt, or to be flattered that she took this much energy just to end their marriage. He settled on flattered as he took a swig of his beer. As he turned to walk back into the living room, he saw that the front door was wide open, and he sighed as he heard a voice behind him.

"Hey genius." She said, as he turned around. "Next time you lock someone out, make sure they don't know where the spare key is." She held up the door key.

Finn laughed. "That's the thing about hide-a-keys, Rach. It would be nice if your wife told you _where it was!_"

"I'm not your wife, Finn. I'm just," she sighed. "I'm just the first girl who climbed into the back of your truck." He winced at her words. Part of him thought that that was true, that the only reason that they were ever together was because of how everything happened, but the other part of him knew for a fact that she loved him just as much as he loved her.

"If you're saying you're not the same girl that you were, let me remind you." He said, grabbing his phone off the counter, and locking himself in his.

"Finn! Just sign the papers!"

After he made sure the door was locked, Finn went over to his phone and dialed a number that he knew all too well. "Hey, it's Finn. You should get over here fast. There's some shit going down at my place and I need help."

x.

The sirens make Rachel perk up in her seat. "Finn, are you fucking kidding me?!" She yelled, running to his door and punching it as hard as she could. "You called Sylvester on me?! You know how much that old bag hates me. She's the biggest bitch in Lima, ever since she elected herself the police chief." Finn opened the door and looked at her.

"Well then, you shouldn't have broken into my house, Rachel." She dove behind the couch when she heard the knock on the door. "Hey man." She heard Finn say, and Rachel popped her head up from the back of the couch. Instead of seeing Sue Sylvester, the old cheerleading coach, self elected ruler of everything to do with the legal system in Lima, Ohio, she saw her old friend, Mike Chang.

Mike was one of her best friends growing up. She knew that he of all people here was going to get out of there, make it someplace big. She felt kind of bad that he didn't but at the same time, she was proud of him for achieving his dream of being a cop. "Where is she?" he asked, looking around the room. When he spotted her, a smile appeared on his face.

"Rachel!" He smiled, as she stood up and ran towards him. Even though she hadn't seen him in seven years, he was still the exact same person he was before she left. It seemed like everyone in Lima was still the same.

"Mike! I can't believe it! You're the chief of police?! I'm so proud of you!" She stood on her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek.

"Thanks, Rachel! Yeah, it took a while, but they finally forced Sue to retire, thank God too, she was getting to old for the job." He smiled, but when he saw Finn frowning he remembered he had a job to do. "So what's the problem?"

"The problem is," Finn answered, slightly annoyed that a reunion and not an arresting was occurring. "Rachel broke into my house."

"Is that true, Rachel?"

"Well, technically, I didn't break in, I used the spare key." Mike nodded his head. "She didn't really break in then, Finn." Mike agreed.

"But she doesn't live here, Mike. She hasn't in seven years." Forgetting that major detail, Mike turned to Rachel.

"Rachel, he's right, that was technically against the law."

"Fine, Mike, I'll go to the police station if that's what you want, but you have to make him sign theses papers first." Rachel said, grabbing the divorce papers and shoving them in Mike's hands.

"Divorce papers?" He asked surprised.

"Yeah, what does that matter, she hasn't been here for seven years, Mike." Finn said, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.

"Well technically," He said, handing the papers back over to Rachel. "If you haven't signed the papers yet, you two are still married," Finn groaned. "Meaning it doesn't really matter, cause it's both of your house." Mike stated, smiling at Rachel.

Rachel's face lit up, and she let out a sigh of relief. Just for good measure, she stuck her tongue out at Finn. When Finn saw, Rachel saw an idea pop into Finn's mind and she instantly regretted her moment of weakness.

"Hey, Mike, do you remember how your dad's car got vandalized in our senior year?" Finn asked, raising his eyebrows. Rachel felt her stomach drop.

"Yeah, there's like an old warrant out for that still cause he still won't let it go that his prized Ferrari got destroyed." Finn nodded in agreement, his face in a sly pout.

"Well, what if I told you the person who spray painted your dad's car is standing in this very room?" Finn smiled, looking at Rachel, who was now trying to come up with any excuse she could to get out of this.

Mike's face turned red with anger as he turned to face Rachel, whose face was now buried in her hands.

xi.

Rachel was thankful when they took the cuffs off of her. Those were always the worst part of being arrested. She hated to remember her childhood and how much of a troublemaker she was. She was arrested at least once a week, maybe twice, depending on what there was to do that day, which to be fair, there wasn't a lot to do in Lima, Ohio but to cause trouble, especially when you hung out with a guy like Noah Puckerman. They were never serious charges against her of course, just little tiny ones. Her daddy was friends with one of the guys that were high up in the station when she was younger, so she always managed to get away with warnings. And she was lucky enough that her friends did too.

"You get one phone call, Berry. You know how this goes" An officer said to her. She didn't exactly recognize who they were, but Rachel assumed it was someone who had worked there when she was younger, or just heard about her reputation.

"Thanks…" she replied sarcastically, walking over to the payphone she was all too familiar with using. She quickly dialed her Dad's house number and waited until the picked up.

"Hello?" Her father Hiram answered. Rachel let out a sigh of relief that it was her Daddy that answered and not her Dad.

"Hi, Daddy, it's me." Rachel said quietly. She felt sort of ashamed that she hadn't really spoken to her fathers in a long time, but she was a busy person, a Broadway star. They just didn't really know how big she was.

"Berry Pie, is that you?" He asked. She ignored the fact that he sounded shocked to hear from her. She heard her Dad cough and adjust himself on his chair, asking if it was really her on the phone.

"Yeah Daddy, it's me. How are you?" Rachel asked.

"I'm good, baby doll, what have you been up to? How are you?" Hiram sounded giddy as he spoke to his daughter.

"I'm good."

"I'm trying to figure out what color to paint the living room." Hiram sighed. "I want to paint it red, but your father will not have it. I mean it's kind of ridiculous. He loves red." Hiram droned on. Rachel rolled her eyes.

"Daddy, that all sounds lovely, but I only have five minutes to talk…"

"Oh Berry Pie, you don't have to talk to me now, call me back when you get the chance…"

"No! Daddy, no, I only got one phone call." Rachel quickly said, not wanting her father to hang up on her.

"What do you mean, where are you, Rachel?" Hiram asked, alarmed.

"I'm in town!" She laughed. She could practically hear the gears click in her father's head as he figured out where she was.

"Your father will be there in twenty minutes." Hiram sighed.

xii.

LeRoy opened Rachel's door for her as Rachel climbed into her dads' car. He let out a loud sigh as he closed the door, and Rachel prepared herself for the lecture she knew she was about to receive.

"So, what did you do this time, Berry Pie?" he asked as he started the car.

"I didn't do anything, Dad. This time it was all Finn. Finn and his stupid big fat mouth." She pouted, crossing her arms over her chest. "It was just a misunderstanding on Mike's part."

LeRoy laughed. "A misunderstanding? Kinda like that wedding that I had to pay for, huh?" He nudged her in the shoulder with his elbow.

"I would hardly call that a wedding." Rachel defended.

"Finn was nervous, Rachel. You can't blame him."

"Dad! He was still drunk from the night before! Puckerman took him out, got him hammered and then shipped him off to me to get married."

"You're still mad about that?" LeRoy looked at his daughter, trying to hide a smile. She knew all too well how much her dad loved Finn.

"YES!" Now Rachel was angry. "I ended up going to the reception all by myself. There was a puke stain down the front of my dress, and he was sleeping it off on a couch that was somewhere in the hotel." Rachel folded her arms back across her chest. "I can't believe after all this time, you're still siding with him, he-"

"I am not siding with him, Berry Pie. I am not siding with anyone." LeRoy sighed. "Finn's just…" he sighed. "Finn is just a different person now, that's all Berry Pie."

"Can we just not talk about Finn?" Rachel said angrily, turning to look out the window.

"Okay fine. So what's new with you, Rachel?" He asked, trying to change the subject.

Rachel smiled to herself when she thought about Sam. "I met someone. Dad, he's a great guy. And I'm happy." She could see her father roll his eyes next to her. "Really."

xiii.

Her daddy practically strangles her when they get back to her Dad's house. "Berry Pie! I've missed you so much!"

"I missed you too, Daddy." She managed to choke out before he drops her on the ground again.

He moved her so she was directly in front of him, and he checked out every inch of her. "Baby doll, you look so good! Did you get a hair cut? Or highlights or something?" He brushed her hair behind her ears.

"No, it's just the same, I think…" Rachel said, walking towards the front door. Her fathers followed behind, closing the door behind them. "Wow, you've done a lot with this place." Rachel said, taking in her surroundings. They had done a lot with her childhood home. There was all new furniture decorating the rooms to the sides of the hallway. She walked into the living room still looking around at all the changes. LeRoy broke her from her daze.

"Rachie, come look at this painting! Your Daddy bought it for me the Christmas before last."

"Oh." Rachel, now angry, turned and faced her Dad. "You mean the Christmas that you were supposed to come visit me in New York?"

"Honey, I told you that wasn't going to work for us." Rachel shook her head. "Let me get you those tickets…" Hiram walked around her towards a cabinet on the side of the room.

"What do you mean?" She asked, and froze when her Daddy handed her back two plane tickets. "Are you kidding me? These were a gift for you, so that you could come visit me in New York and see me in my play and how well I've been doing for myself."

She could tell she was talking to a wall as her Daddy walked into the kitchen. "Honey are you hungry? Do you want me to make you something to eat?" Rachel sat down on the couch in a huff.

"No. Dad got me food on the way home from jail." She kicked off her boots and put her feet up on the table in front of her. "And I wouldn't have even gotten put into jail today if it weren't for stupid Finn and his stupid fucking ego."

"Oh!" Hiram interrupted. "I see you have your priorities straight there my little Berry Pie, Finn, Jail, and then home?"

"Daddy, it was just some unfinished business with him, that's all."

"Finn's doing all right for himself, Rachel. He's going places." LeRoy stated, and Rachel tried not to let it irritate her that her dad was still supporting Finn, even after everything that happened between them.

"And once upon a time Rachel, you were going places too." Hiram said, sitting next to Rachel on the couch. Rachel rolled he eyes at her father as she handed the plane tickets back over to him.

"Here, I don't want them."

"Rachel, what am I going to do with these? It's better if you have them so that you can get your money back."

"Really, Daddy? Really? I mean you and Dad go all over the country when his senior citizen show choir is touring or has a competition, but when your one and only daughter, your so called 'pride and joy of life' wants you to come visit her in New York, you can't even do that." She was standing now, in front of her Daddy, anger seeping through her veins.

"The door swings both ways, Rachel. You could actually come home for once instead of only visiting every seven years." Hiram scolded.

"My whole life, you both have been pushing me so I was a better person so I could get out of here, do something better with my life. That's why since I was a child you both put me in acting lessons and voice lessons so that I could be a star on Broadway! Why would I even want to come home?"

"All I want for you, my sweet, sweet Rachel is for you to be happy. And if that's in New York, far be it from me to keep you from being there."

"You want me to be happy?" Rachel asked, walking towards her bag. "We're there Daddy. I am happy. I am an Off- Broadway star in New York. And yes, I know that is not exactly the most perfect position that I am in right now, but I will be on Broadway one day. And I am happy doing what I am doing." As she spoke, she felt around inside of her bag for her engagement ring. When she found it, she slipped it on her finger before turning to her fathers. "And someone loves me, Daddy. And I love him." He showed her father her hand, now adorned with her gigantic Tiffany's engagement ring.

Hiram grabbed her hand to look at the ring. Her Dad spoke before her Daddy could. "Hiram, why don't you see if we have any of that champagne left in the fridge so we can celebrate?" He let go of her hand and left the room.

"Your Daddy is a very complex person, Rachel." LeRoy whispered.

Rachel rolled her eyes. "I'm going to bed." She sighed, grabbing her bag and walking up the stairs to her room. She was scared of what she would find when she got there. Her fathers had redone the rest of the house, why wouldn't they have changed her bedroom too? When she opened the door, she was slightly relieved to see that her room hadn't changed a bit since she was there last.

The walls were still the bright gold that she had her fathers paint when she was little. She had wanted gold because she loved gold stars. Because gold stars were metaphors of being a star. And she, Rachel Berry, was the biggest star out there. She sat down on the bed allowing herself to fall backwards, her head landing on the pillow. As she closed her eyes to drift to sleep, she couldn't help but to think of her father's words. What exactly did he mean by 'Finn was making something of himself'? But as she kept her eyes shut, all thoughts of Finn disappeared, and the beautiful smile of her fiancée appeared, helping her fall asleep.


	2. part two

xiv.

Rachel woke up early on purpose the next morning. It was her desperate attempt to avoid her fathers. She loved them, with all of her heart, but since she moved to New York, things had changed. _She _had changed. She didn't really tell them much about her life. In fact she noted that the night before had been the first time she called them in months. She had always thought that if they cared, they would have come to see her. And since they couldn't even do that, well maybe she was right to not call.

xv.

She drove into town, her lawyer speaking to her on her blue tooth as she went. She pulled into a spot near the town deli, turning off her blue tooth and going back to hand held. "Now, exactly how long does a divorce take?" She shut off the engine and climbed out of the car. "What? Eighteen months? I don't have eighteen months, Mr. Shuester, I don't even have eighteen days!"

As she was walking down the street, she heard catcalls at her. She smiled to herself and ignored them. She was used to it happening in the city, but not here in Lima, here she was just Rachel Berry. But in New York, she was Rachel Smythe, and that was a name people knew. "That's not going to work, Mr. Shuester!" She argued.

"Hey there baby! I haven't seen anyone like you around this town in the longest time!" The jerk called.

"I don't understand, can't we just rush them?"

"Baby, you look like sex on a stick!" He called again. Rachel sighed with frustration.

"Mr. Shuester, I'm going to have to call you back." She said, quickly hanging up the phone to yell at the pervert who was being extremely rude to her. "Why don't you just kiss my-" She turned to face the asshole and was absolutely delighted in what she saw. "..Ass!" she yelled as she ran towards Blaine Anderson, who quickly hopped out of his car, grabbing Rachel around the waist into a big hug.

"You should be honored, Rachel, I don't do that kind of stuff on the street." He said, putting her back down on the ground. Rachel had only a small group of friends growing up, all of them boys. But Blaine, out of all of them, knew Rachel the best. He was her best friend. Blaine had been her confidant over the years, and she had done the same for him. "What are you doing here?! Have you seen your dad, what about Fi-" He quickly caught himself before he mentioned a name that Rachel was already tired of hearing.

"Yes I saw my daddies, and as for the other one." Rachel glared. "Well let's just say Dad got to do his favorite past time of getting me out of jail last night."

"Oh man, what you do this time?"

"The little shit ratted me out of Mike's dad's car." Rachel pouted.

"He was still on that? I don't even get it, Mike obviously knew that it was one of us. Hell he was the one who bought us the freaking spray paint."

She laughed, gripping Blaine's arm. "Well, you know Finn…" Rachel heard voices behind her and turned see two ladies walking down the street with very concerned looks on their face. "Well I better let you go, I don't want to get you in trouble with your girlfriend." Rachel teased, pointing to the women. A confused expression crossed her face when she saw the look on Blaine's. "There is a girlfriend, isn't there?"

"Oh, c'mon Rachel, I can barely afford myself, I don't need to deal with some high maintenance woman." He stuck his tongue out. She gently hit his shoulder.

"But what about that girl, Brittany, what's her name? You guys were really into each other in high school." She asked, taking in the expression on his face.

"Ohh! She's she's batting for the other team now, Rachel." He laughed.

"Ah, I see. Well that explains some lingering questions I had about a pillow fight we had one night…"

"No way!?" Blaine laughed while Rachel nodded her head.

"Guess we all have out little secrets, don't we Blaine?" she smiled, squeezing his shoulder.

He smiled at her. "Well baby girl, I gotta get going. Are you in town for a while?" He asked, kissing her forehead, before backing up towards his car.  
"God, I really hope not, I'm just gonna go and hit the bank."

"Well then, I better scram!" He joked, climbing back into his car.

"Ha Ha!" She said sarcastically as he stuck his head through his open window.

"But seriously, it was great to see you." He smiled.

"You too." She blew him a kiss as he pulled away.

xvi.

"Well look what the cat dragged in!" A voice from behind the counter said as Rachel walked into the bank. Rachel looked up to see her old friend Tina Cohen-Chang sitting behind the counter. Rachel walked over to her, a smile on her face.

"Hello, Tina! How have you been?!"

"Good, good. Not as good as you have been I hear." Rachel looked at her confused. "Oh nothing, I heard from Mike that you and Finn are getting a divorce. One could only assume that you met someone else. But I mean, that's just what he told me at dinner last night."

"Oh! You and Mike are together now?"

"Yup, going on five years." Tina held out her hand to show Rachel her ring. "We're very happy." She smiled. "Mike told me that Finn really doesn't want to sign the papers, you know that right?"

Rachel sighed. "Yeah, I know, that's why I have to either annoy him so much he has to give in and sign them or kill him, whichever of the two comes first." Tina laughed.

"So you here to take money out of your joint checking account then?" Rachel saw the devilish look on Tina's face.

"My what?" Rachel's eyes bugged open at the words.

"Your joint checking account." Tina repeated. "You know, yours and Finn's money?" And the look in Tina's eyes made Rachel realize just what she needed to do.

"Oh, yes." Rachel grinned evilly. "I do think I want to withdraw from that account."

xvii.

Rachel couldn't believe just how much money was in their joint bank account. What the hell was Finn doing with all that money? Her mind flashed to a million different possibilities. He was a drug dealer. Finn Hudson was now a drug dealer. No he couldn't be. She shook her head as she drove to the furniture store, ready to spend all of the money that Finn had made in his unknown legal status ways.

xviii.

She got back to Finn's house and was happy to see that he was still not back from where ever the hell he was now. She quickly went to the hide-a-key rock, and grabbed the key. She smiled to herself. Rachel loved how she always managed to find a way around Finn, no matter what the consequences were.

Slipping into the house, Rachel got to work. She was thankful that all of the new furniture she got had same day delivery as she put moved the new love seat into the place of the old one. Once they were in place, Rachel got to work with the rest of the house. Luckily, her favorite movie "How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days" was on last night, and she did her best at Andy-ing up his house. His bathroom cabinets now had tampons, lotion, and other girly things inside of it. She smirked as she lit a pink candle on the toilet before making her way back into the living room.

Adding throw pillows to the couches, candles on every other hard surface, and a very girly bedspread was just the beginning though. Still on her evil streak, Rachel ran back to her car, grabbing the bags full of all vegan food she bought for the house.

Giggling to herself she quickly replaced all of the disgusting and unhealthy food in his fridge with new and green food. The finishing touch to the house was not only throwing out all of his beer and replacing it with non-alcoholic ones, but putting a knitted sweater on the dog. When her work was done, Rachel sat on the new floral print couch and admired her work. _Yes, this will do._ She smiled, now all she had to do was wait.

He had the longest day at work and he couldn't wait til he got home so he could have an ice cold beer, and maybe, if he was lucky, catch the last twenty minutes of the game. When he got to the door, he noticed that it was unlocked and silently cursed as he walked inside.

He immediately noticed the difference when he stepped inside. His entire house was now covered in girly shit. New couches, new pillows, candles all over the fucking place. Being angry was just about the understatement of the year. He walked further into the house and as soon as he saw Drizzle wearing a sweater, he lost it. "Rachel, are you fucking kidding me?" he spat, knowing that she was the one behind the new decorations.

"What?" she asked, poking her head out of the kitchen. "I mean, this is what a wife is supposed to do, right Finn? We're supposed to make a house a home," she walked towards him. "And make sure their husbands are well fed." She smirked, patting his stomach. She couldn't help but notice how firm his abs had gotten since the last time she had touched him.

"Cut the shit Rachel. Where's my stuff?" He asked, running his hands through his hair.

"Oh, Finny, this place was a mess. You seemed to really need help maintaining it." She turned and walked back into the kitchen holding back a laugh.

"You don't even live here!" He sighed. "I'm going to ask you one last time, where is the hide-a-key Rachel?" Rachel, completely ignoring his question, started stirring the pot that was on the stove. He followed her in, absolutely mortified at what he saw. "What the hell did you do?!"

"I just cleaned up your house, like I said."

"Rachel, what the fuck is all of this? Why is all of this healthy?" He grew angrier every time that she smiled at him. "Rachel, what the fuck did you do to all my beer?! Why would you get me non alcoholic shit?!" He slammed the fridge shut, a shitty beer in hand.

"I was going to try to get you a new bed too, but all of the ones from Mattress Land were ugly, so I guess I'll order you one from New York instead."

Finn chuckled. "Whatever you want Rach, you can go right a head and spend all of your money on me." He said, cracking open the beer and drinking.

"Oh, but Finny, I thought that you said to think of it as _our _money." Rachel's words made Finn freeze in place. "Just a guess that the words 'joint checking' are just _running _through your head right now."

"How. Much. Did. You. Take?" He asked through gritted teeth.

"All of it." She smirked, raising her eyebrow.

"Son of a bitch, Rachel!" Finn crushed the beer can in his hand, beer spilling all over the floor.

"You wanted a wife, Finn, you got a _fucking _wife." She stomped her foot. "And what are you even doing with all that money? You should invest it. Didn't I give you a whole lecture in high school about how to save money and when to spend it? Don't you know anything, Finn Hudson?"

"I know that if you don't get your tiny five foot three ass out of this house right now-"

"Sign the fucking papers, and I will go home Finn." Rachel yelled, walking over to her bag pulling them out. "Sign the papers, and I will give you all your money back."

"Fine!" Finn spat.

"Fine!"

"Give me the pen." He demanded.

Rachel reached out to give him the pen but then pulled back. "Wait, before you sign. What were you even doing with all of that money, Finn. And since when did you quit the auto shop? You're not doing anything illegal are you?" She asked, trying to answer the questions she was thinking earlier.

"So what? Just give me the goddamned pen." He sat down on the couch. "I don't ask you about your boyfriend, you keep your nose out of my life, deal?" He felt his heart clench when the words left his mouth.

"Who told you…?" She asked. Finn noticed her face soften.

"Rachel, just because I don't understand things, doesn't mean I'm stupid." Finn grabbed the pen from her hand. "It's funny," Finn chuckled. "No one finds their soul mate when they're eleven years old."

"Yeah, I guess." Rachel said quietly.

"I mean, if that were the case, where's the fun in that, right?" Finn smiled at her before turning his attention back to the papers. He looked up and saw Rachel staring at the mantel on the fireplace. He knew that she would be surprised that he kept the statue, but he couldn't help it. Finn smiled as he remembered when he and Rachel figured out that lightening turns sand into weird crystallized structures.

"I can't believe you kept it all these years." She whispered as she ran her hand down it.

"Hmm."

"You know most people don't know that lightening does that to sand…" Finn stood up while she spoke, an evil grin appearing on his face.

"You know what, Rach? I completely forgot! Puck set me up on a date tonight, and I gotta go!"

"Wha-What!?" She asked. Finn walked into the bathroom and pulled off his shirt. He smirked as he saw Rachel's eyes on his chest.

"You don't care if I have my lawyer take a look at those, do you? I mean, you did say that I don't know anything, I might as well have someone tell me what all those big words mean." Rachel shook her head, and he knew she was thinking about those times in high school when she would be the one to tell him what certain big words meant.

Rachel let out a loud angry screech, which Finn ignored.

"Hey, Rachel, how much did this cost you anyway?" He smirked.

"More then you make in a month, Finn. Just sign the damn papers!" She yelled, throwing a pillow at him.

"Hmm, nah." He said, sliding on a new shirt and grabbed the divorce papers off the table. "But thanks for stopping by." He winked, before leaving the house.

"Oh my god!" He heard Rachel yell from outside the house. He knew that he was going to have to sign the papers eventually. He knew she was going to go back to her big life with her big boyfriend and her big career. But to him, she was just Rachel Berry, the girl that he loved more than anything in the world, and he really didn't want to give her up without a fight.

xix.

Rachel pulled up to the bar just as her phone started to ring. She smiled widely when she saw who it was. "Baby!" She squealed, excited to hear her fiancées voice.

"Well hello, my love. How's it going in Ohio?" Rachel sighed.

"It's exhausting."

"Well, I'm glad that you're getting a chance to see your parents. Were they angry that they saw on the news before you got a chance to tell them in person?" Sam asked.

"Honestly, I don't even think that they knew before I even came here." Rachel opened the door of her car and climbed out. A feeling of nostalgia hit her when she started walking towards the door of the bar.

"Well, isn't that a good thing?"

"I guess. It could be going better here though." She said deflated.

"Well, I've got some news to cheer you up!"

"And what is that, Mr. Evans?"

"I just got a copy of 'The New Yorker' sent to me. Guess who has an entire page devoted to them?"

Rachel gasped. "No!"

"Yes!" Rachel heard the excitement in his voice. "And I quote 'Rachel Berry starring as "Fanny Brice" in an off-Broadway production of _Funny Girl _was the biggest breath of fresh air that this stage has ever seen.'" Rachel could feel tears sting in her eyes. "Our one regret was that we did not go to see this show sooner, which would have given us more opportunities to hear one of the most beautiful voices of Ms. Berry's generation.' There's more, do you want me to keep going?"

"No, no! If you read anymore I'll have a full on breakdown. Oh my god, Sammy, they really said all of that about me?"

"They did baby, I am so proud of you. But, I am going to go have this framed so you can have it when you get back, go have some fun with your folks. I love you."

"I love you too." Rachel said softly, wiping away a stray tear from her cheek.

xx.

As soon as she entered the bar, she was greeted with the warm and loud voice of one Carole Hudson. Carole owned the bar that Rachel was standing in. It was always like a home away from home for her. Somewhere that she came every night, and spent time with her friends. Rachel smiled. Carole was like the mother that she had never had, and Rachel had always loved her for that.

"Batten down the hatches boys!" She yelled, slamming her hands against the bar. "Trouble has just walked right into my bar in the shape of my absolute favorite daughter in law!" She made her way around the bar and pulled Rachel into a hug.

"Hi, Carole!" Rachel said pulling away. "And it's soon to be ex- daughter in law." Holding her left hand so Carole could see her engagement ring.

"Oh my goodness!" Carole exclaimed. "Who's the lucky man that bought _this ice rink _for you?!" She nudged Rachel with her elbow.

"His name is Sam! He's in politics." She smiled.

"Well, this means he's got my vote." Carole winked. She grabbed Rachel's face in her hand. "It's good to see you, baby girl." Carole turned to the bartender. "Now you give her whatever she wants. I'll see you later, Rachel."

"Thanks Carole." Rachel called as Carole walked away. She turned to the bartender. "I'll have a scotch on the rocks with a twist, please."

"Oh my god!" A voice called from behind her. Rachel turned to see a woman standing behind her, a baby in her arms. "Rachel?"

"Quinn?" Rachel gasped, walking towards her.

"Yes! Look at you." Quinn gestured to Rachel's whole body. "You look so fancy and pretty!"

"Well, look at you! You've got a baby… in a bar." Quinn nodded her head smiling.

"Yes, this is Beth!" She turned adjusted Beth in her arms. "The sitter couldn't babysit tonight, and well, you know how Puck gets, he always wants to come here."

Rachel nodded her head. "Yeah I know very well." She joked. "Are they here? I haven't seen them since I got back."

"Yeah, they're over there playing pool." Quinn smiled. "I'll be over there in a bit, I gotta go change her. But it was nice to see you, Rachel." Quinn leaned and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"You too, Quinn." Rachel said, before making her way over to where she hoped Finn would be.

She spotted him over the crowd. She was able to spot him anywhere really, him being so tall was actually a blessing for her considering how tiny she was. Rachel made her way over to him and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, do you care if I join you?"

Finn took a swig of his beer before he turned around. "Actually we do." He snapped.

Rachel turned to the girl that was sitting in front of Finn, extending her hand. "And you must be Finn's hot date."

"I'm Sugar." She smiled.

"Hi! I'm Rachel, I'm Finn's _prissy_" Rachel glared at Finn when she said the word. "Bitch of a wife, whom Finn refuses to divorce, even though I'm engaged to another man." Rachel extended her hand to show Sugar her ring.

"Holy shit, Finn. Look at how big the rock on this is!" She gasped.

"Hey Sugar, you wanna go get us another round of drinks?" Finn asked.

"Oh, okay!" Sugar smiled, walking towards the bar.

Finn walked away from her over to the pool table where he and Blaine were playing pool. Before Finn could make his shot, Rachel put her glass in front of his cue. "Finn, why do you want me to be mean to you? Especially in front of all your friends?"

"Oh, c'mon Rachel, you were our friend too." Blaine said, hurt in his voice.

"Well, who do we have here?" Rachel heard a voice say as a set of arms wrapped around her from behind. Rachel screamed loudly thrashing trying to get out of the grasp of whoever it was. "Get off me!" She screamed.

"Whoa, whoa. Fine." Puck said, putting her back down on the ground.

"That was not funny, Noah!" she said, slapping him on the shoulder.

"Oh, Ray, that was just like old times." He pouted, rubbing where she had hit him.

"No, Noah. Times have changed. I'm not that girl anymore, I don't like to be-" Rachel pondered for a second to find the right word. "Manhandled." Puck rolled his eyes.

"Hey, Puck, just come over here and grab a cue." Blaine called. "And if you can't find one, just take the one that's shoved up Rachel's ass."

Rachel glared at her old friend and turned back to Puck. "I see you still have your old Mohawk." She said, reaching to pet his hair.

"Hey, you do not touch the 'hawk." He walked over and grabbed a pool cue from the wall. "Now you sit your boney ass down there and watch me kick Finn in the balls at pool." Puck demanded.

Rachel laughed. "Nah, I'm more of a watch and play kind of girl, aren't I, Finn?" She said, gulping down the rest of her drink.

xxi.

Five scotch on the rocks with a twist later; Rachel was walking around the bar completely plastered, while Finn and Puck watched from the sidelines. He smiled at her, he missed her being like this, so carefree and happy with their friends. He couldn't hold back a laugh as she walked over to the pool table and collapsed on top of it next to Blaine who was taking his shot. "Blaine…" She snorted. "Do. Not. Miss. This. You don't wanna suck."

Blaine burst into laughter at her words, pushing her away. "So are you ever gonna give her a divorce?" Puck asked taking a sip of his own beer.

"Well, she's waited seven years, she can wait a few more days." Finn answered, walking over to the pool table.

"Like it's gonna make a difference." Rachel slurred at him, leaning on her pool cue.

"You never know," Puck interrupted. "You might be surprised to hear that-"

"Hey, let her think what she wants, Puck. She made up her mind about me a long time ago."

"Some things never change." Rachel snapped.

xxii.

"Now, Finn, it's just you and Rachel left in the game. There's only a few seconds left to go. We need that big beautiful fifty-two yard throw!" Puck said, imitating throwing a football. Rachel rolled her eyes, just because they were key players on the football team in high school didn't mean they should use football analogies for _every _game they played.

"Hey, Rach. You remember that?" Blaine asked, nudging her with his elbow. She knew he was talking about their high school football championship game.

"Of course I do." She glared her eyes at Finn. "That was the night that Finn got me pregnant." She regretted saying it as the words left her mouth and everyone in the room went silent.

"Why don't you just go shout that from the Empire Stare Building, Rach." Finn said through gritted teeth.

"Oh, come on, it's not like anyone can really keep a secret in this town." Rachel said, wobbling around the pool table. "Except for Blaine." She turned to face him.

Blaine's eyes went wide. "What did I ever do to you, Rachel?"

Rachel laughed. "You never did anything to me, Blaine, or any other girl in town." She heard people in the bar laugh, she guessed they were paying attention now because of her outburst.

"Rachel, what are you doing?" Quinn asked from the corner. She had been watching the whole game, Beth in hand.

"What do you mean, Quinn?" Rachel giggled, swinging her pool stick around.

"She's just angry, you know. I would be too if NYADA didn't accept me after three auditions." Rachel stopped dead in her tracks. Anger welled up inside of her.

"Oh, why don't you just go to a gay bar?!" She yelled, throwing her hands over her mouth. Before she knew what was happening Blaine threw his cue on the ground and ran out of the bar, giving Rachel the dirtiest look she had ever seen on his way out.

She tried to run after him, but ran into Carole on the way and due to her very drunken state, took the opritunity to get more liquor. "Hey Carole! Do you think we can get some more scotchhhhhh?" Rachel giggled.

"Rachel honey, I think you've had enough." Rachel took a deep breath.

"You know what, Carole? I think your right. You know, I think everyone here has had enough. I mean, how do you people live like this?" Rachel asked, twirling around in circles. "This place is miserable. Why would you wanna live in Ohio? New York is sssooooo much better!" Rachel slurred.

"That's enough." Finn sighed, grabbing Rachel and throwing her over his shoulder.

"GET OFF OF ME!" Rachel screamed, pounding her fists into his back. "FINN CHRISTOPHER HUDSON YOU PUT ME DOWN THIS INSTANT!"

Finn walked her outside of the bar before placing her down on the ground. "What the fuck is your problem, Rachel?" Finn yelled, throwing his arms in the air.

"Well you asked for it!" She yelled back, feeling very dizzy.

"I asked for it?!" He yelled, as Rachel started looking for her keys. "You show up here, after seven years. You rearrange my house, and yell at me, and are _cruel _to my friends, who used to be your friends by the way. You're acting like you're better than them!"

"I AM BETTER THAN THEM!"

"You're nothing but fancy clothes, and shoes, and New York and all of these stupid things that don't even matter in the long run, Rachel."

"Oh, like you're going places!" She said, trying to grab her keys from his hand. "So what if you can't play football anymore, get a new dream Finn, I did." She let him guide her into the cab of his truck knowing that she couldn't drive in the state she was in. Before Rachel felt it coming, she turned her head and vomited all over the floor of Finn's truck. She heard him groan and speak to someone before she felt more vomit rise in her throat.

xxiii.

"Finn!" Quinn called from behind him. "Here's her stuff." He sighed and grabbed it from his friend's hands. "I'm sorry she's acting this way towards you."

Finn rubbed his hands through his hair. "Yeah well, I'm signing the papers as soon as I get her back to her house, so then she can go home and leave us all alone." He groaned when he heard Rachel vomit all over his car. "Do you think you can get Puck to drive me here tomorrow so I can get her car back to her dad's house?"

"Sure." Quinn nodded, grabbing his forearm. "I'll see you later."

Finn climbed into his truck, which was now covered in vomit, and a passed out Rachel leaning on the window. He sighed as he drove towards her house, thinking about she had acted in the bar. He knew that she wanted more than anything to be in New York. It was literally all she talked about when they were in high school. And he knew that she would be the one to make it. But he didn't think that she would have left him behind like she did. They had plans to be together for their entire lives. That's what the rings they had meant, they meant forever.

Sure, maybe he wasn't the best husband. And yeah, Puck got him totally plastered on their wedding day. And yeah, he fucked up big time by puking down her dress. But he spent a long time trying to make up for that, and he thought he did a pretty good job. But he knew that none of it mattered anymore. She was marrying another man back in New York. Someone who could give her everything that she deserved and he had to let her go.

When he got to her house, he went around to her door, and picked her up in his arms. He smiled, thinking about how he used to do this whenever she would go a little too hard at the parties they went to when they were younger. He rang her doorbell and her LeRoy answered. Finn noticed how his face fell when he took in the sight of his daughter passed out drunk in his arms. LeRoy opened the door for him to walk in.

"Hey, LeRoy. Hiram." He nodded as he passed Hiram in the hallway.

"Hey, Finn." Hiram smiled, as Finn carried her up the stairs to her bedroom.

He laid her down on her bed, and pulled a cover over her. When she was all tucked in, he went into her bag and pulled out the papers he had tried so hard to avoid. With a sigh, he pulled a pen out of his pocket, signing his name on the line. He frowned as he placed them on her pillow next to her face, and kissed her on the cheek before he left.

xxiv.

Rachel opened her eyes to a shooting pain in her head the next morning, and instantly closed them again. She let out a groan as she adjusted her face on her pillow. When she didn't feel soft cushiony material underneath her face, she opened her eyes slowly to see what it was. Lying in front of her face was a packet of papers. A packet of signed divorce papers. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw them, getting up out of bed, way faster then she should have and stuck them into her bad.

She walked out into the living room, her dads sitting around the television. When they heard her, they turned and smiled at her. "What?" she asked, wincing when it hurt her head.

"Nothing." LeRoy answered, shaking his head.

"So, you had a good time last night?" Hiram laughed, taking in his daughter's full appearance.

"God, Daddy. Don't talk so loud." She said, sitting down gently next to her father.

"You know, Finn carried you in last night after you passed out in his truck."

"What?!" She said, a little too loudly.

"Yeah, he carried you in last night, you should go and thank him or something Rachel. Even though you guys aren't anything or whatever you guys are, you still mean a lot to him."

Rachel nodded. "Alright, I'll go." She said, getting up slowly. "I'm going to go shower, try to get some of the stink of regret off of me."

xxv.

Finn was working on his car as Rachel pulled up. He didn't even bother to turn around, Rachel assumed because he knew who it was. As she walked towards him, Drizzle ran to her, barking. She crouched to the ground, petting him before she walked to Finn.

"Thought you'd be gone by now, Rachel." He called over his shoulder.

"I- I put the money back into your account." She said softly.

Finn laughed. "Thanks, that's gonna save me from bouncing a lot of checks." He leaned against the front of his truck, facing her. "But I like what you did. With the house." He pointed towards it. "It should help it sell quicker."

"What?" She felt a pang in her heart. "You're moving?"

"I've been spending a lot of my time in Cleveland, so I figure I might as well." He shrugged. "Rachel, I signed your papers, why are you still here?" He asked, guiding the dog into the truck.

"Look, Finn, I never meant to hurt you." Rachel said, taking a step towards him. "Or anyone else for that matter. But I just wanted to say thank you."

"You might want to move out of the way, Rach." He smirked at her, climbing into his truck. She felt her heart speed up when she saw his smirk. It was her absolute favorite part of him.

"Finn, you can't just leave!"

"Sure I can!" He smiled her favorite half smile again, starting the engine. "You wanna come?"

"Where you going?" Rachel walked towards him.

"I want to show you something." He said, grabbing her hand.

Rachel felt electricity as soon as their hands touched. She pulled away before she could enjoy it. "I- I ca-can't" she stuttered.

"Can't? Or won't?" He said, closing the door.  
"Finn…" She sighed.

"Well, I guess I should be going then." He said, looking at his rearview mirror. Rachel wanted to say something, but words wouldn't leave her mouth. Instead, she watched her past drive away from her. But a part of her, wanted it to stay.

xvi.

After sitting in front of the post office for a good forty minutes, (staring at the banners that were being put up for the street fair that was happening later that night) Rachel left the car, ready to start a new chapter in her life. She took the freshly signed papers out of her bag, and put the necessary amount of stamps at the top. But Rachel, being Rachel, put an extra one on, just for good measure.

As soon as she put the papers in the mailbox, she felt a wave of relief come over her. She, Rachel Berry, was going to be able to marry the love of her life Sam Evans, without any problems. She smiled her thousand watt smile as she walked back to her car. And even though she was smiling, a part, a part of her that should be smaller, felt dead inside.

xvii.

She knew exactly where Blaine was; the same place that he always was when they were kids and he wasn't with the gang. She always had a thing for it, I mean, she faked her last name in New York because of the place. Rachel pulled up the Smythe Manor for the first time since she was a kid. As much as she changed, the place didn't. And just pulling up there sent Rachel into a memory spiral. The first time that she was here was when she found out that Blaine had met another friend named Sebastian in school. Sebastian wasn't really part of their crowd, but Blaine was never a person to leave anyone out.

One day, Blaine asked Rachel to hang out with them and she reluctantly said yes, worried about what Finn and Puck would say. When she got there the day there were supposed to hang out, Rachel noticed how close Blaine and Sebastian were, and they way they interacted with each other. It didn't take a detective to figure out what was going on between them. So ever since that day, Rachel kept his secret, until the night prior, where she messed it all up.

Rachel knocked on the door, thinking about what she was going to say to Blaine when she spoke to him. A maid for the mansion answered. "Hi, I'm Rachel Smyth-" She caught herself before she messed up her names. "I mean Berry, I'm here to see Blaine Anderson." The maid nodded and led her inside.

"Mr. Anderson, you have a visitor." The maid said, and Blaine nodded. When he saw that it was Rachel, he sighed walking to the door where she was.

"Rachel, what are you doing here?" He asked, looking back at Sebastian who was reading a book in the corner.

"I've forgotten how beautiful this place was." Rachel said, looking around the hallway at the chandeliers and paintings.

"I guess it doesn't take much to forget a lot of things, does it?" He whispered.

"Blaine, it's not like that at all!"

"No, I'll tell you what it's like. Finn was not the only one that you ran out on when you left here, Rachel."

Rachel just looked down at her feet, guilt consuming her. "I'm really sorry about the bar, Blaine. I guess I just figured that if I pointed at you then no one see through me."

"Blaine!" Sebastian called from the room. "Are you almost done? I need to talk to you about something." The tone of voice that Sebastian was using made it seem like talking was something they would not be doing when Blaine went back into the room.

"I should go." Blaine sighed.

"Bye." Rachel said as Blaine closed the door behind him. Rachel held back tears as she walked down the stairs to the front door. She was surprised however, when she opened the door and found someone with a camera around their neck.

"Can I help you?" Rachel asked, extremely confused.

"Hi, my name is Rory Flannagin from 'The New York Post'"

Rachel nodded her head and smiled politely. "What are you doing here?" she asked with fake kindness.

"Well, the son of the Mayor of New York City is marrying you so I've been hired to do an expose about you, find out where you grew up, you know all that kinds of stuff."

Rachel gulped. "So you mean, like take pictures, of my house?" She asked slowly.

Rory nodded. "And your family too, do you mind?"

"Yes. Yes, I do. Mind that is. I'm actually just on my way out." Rachel said, desperate for a way out of the situation she had gotten herself into. Just as Rory opened his mouth to speak, the front door opened, and Blaine walked out onto the porch.

"And who is this?" Rory asked, to a very confused looking Blaine.

"This!" Rachel said, grabbing Blaine by the shoulders and pulling him towards her. "Is my cousin, Blaine. Blaine Smythe," Blaine shot her a very weird look. "This is Rory Flannagin. He's from 'The New York Post, he's gonna take pictures of our _family_" Rachel put emphasis on the word and Blaine nodded. "You know, for the paper about me marrying the _mayor's son and all._" Rachel prayed that he understood all of the hints that she was dropping and also prayed that he loved her enough to go along with this for her.

"OH! Right, right! Of course, it's very nice to meet you Rory. Welcome to our home. Would you like a tour?" Blaine shot Rachel another look before following the two into the house, loving Blaine a million more times now then she ever did.

xviii.

"Thanks!" Rory called out the window as he drove away. Rachel let out a giant sigh of relief and she turned to Blaine.

"Well aren't you just a big fat liar!" He said, nudging her in the shoulder.

"Blaine!" She squealed, chasing after him.

"Oh, go back to New York!" he joked, running away. Rachel was glad that at least she had one person on her side in Lima, and she was especially glad that that person was Blaine.

* * *

I hope this is good. Some of the dialogue is from the movie because the characters that they are based off of say things that are really important to moving the plot of the movie along. I don't own Glee, or Sweet Home Alabama. But I wish I did, cause that is my favorite movie ever. Thank you for reviewing/favoriting/reading. :)


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